


Life After

by GlitterCake20



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Closure, Grieving, Loss, M/M, post death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 16:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14877506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterCake20/pseuds/GlitterCake20
Summary: This is an extension of the ficIn Another LifeIt can be read separately but has more of an impact when read after Chapter 1 & 2 of the main fic.





	Life After

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sofiaaaaa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sofiaaaaa/gifts), [maraudersourwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maraudersourwolf/gifts).



> This is the song referenced: [Saturn](https://youtu.be/dzNvk80XY9s)

Fifteen years later Theo finds himself back at the edge of the preserve, sitting atop the barrier that was once crushed by a speeding blue Bronco. There is no trace left of the accident anymore, washed away by the kindness of the rain and overgrown by nature, as if it knew how much it would hurt to see.

 

The wreckage had long since been removed by the state but Theo can still see it clearly. That, along with the flashing lights of the ambulance, the smoke, the beautiful angel face - fast sleep amidst all the chaos—that will forever be etched into Theo’s mind.

 

“It’s been so long fancy face… but I can still see you so clearly in my mind. You were so beautiful.”

 

He doesn’t care to stop the tears, there is no one out there, anyway. Everyone is too scared of the “ghost of the blonde boy” Theo laughs it off, how ridiculous _. But_ , he thinks, if the stories _were_ real he wouldn’t be scared… he’d give _anything_ to see Liam one last time. To touch him, hear his voice so he could remember the way he sounded. Anything.

 

He positions the guitar on his thigh rapping over the chords once, “I hope you’re listening fancy face. This one’s for you.” He hopes his voice will stay together, and he begins playing, fingers graciously toggling over the strings, it almost sounds like it echoes down into the preserve. He lets his thoughts travel along with it as he sings.

 

**_You taught me the courage of stars before you left._ **

**_How light carries on endlessly, even after death._ **

****

_They were sprawled out on incredibly uncomfortable rocks, at the highest point in the preserve. Liam had insisted the stars were the most beautiful from there, how he knew that Theo wasn’t sure but he believed him. “That is Ophiuchus. See, his head…” Liam traced a finger along an invisible outline in the night sky, “there’s his legs, and that’s the snake…. You’re not even looking are you?”_

_“Why on God’s green earth would I look at a guy with a snake in the sky when the most beautiful thing in the world lays right next to me?”_

_Liam flipped over on his side, shuffling closer, “That’s the corniest thing I’ve ever heard.” Liam leaned in and kissed him, softly. Theo pulled him closer, keeping their lips together, hands tugging at his hair to angle his head just right. “I love you.” Liam breathed. “For how long?” Theo asked tasting the boy on his lips. “Until the world burns. Even after that.”_

****

**_With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite._ **

**_How rare and beautiful it is to even exist._ **

****

_He held Liam in his lap, the boy’s thighs straddled over his own, rocking back and forth as he came undone, short pants of his breath rolling over Theo’s lips, hands gripped his shoulders and all Theo could do was watch, marvelling in the beauty of Liam’s pleasure. He enveloped the whine that slipped passed his swollen lips, kissing him until his body collapsed. “Amazing… you’re amazing.” Liam stuttered back to life holding Theo’s face. “For you only.” Theo assured him, bucking up into him for his own release until he too swirled in the ecstasy, wrapped in Liam’s arms._

**_I couldn’t help but ask_ **

**_For you to say it all again._ **

**_I tried to write it down_ **

**_But I could never find a pen._ **

**_I’d give anything to hear_ **

**_You say it one more time,_ **

****

_“Tell me again!!” Theo laughed twirling Liam around in the middle of the floor in their small, scruffy apartment, “You are the worst dancer in the world!!” Liam screamed, getting dizzier and dizzier but the smile he had was blinding, and Theo would have worn that “Worst Dancer” title with pride if it meant that his smile would stay. “You’re crazy!!”—“And you’re gorgeous.”_

**_That the universe was made_ **

**_Just to be seen by my eyes…_ **

Theo stops the music, his voice dying in his throat. “Jesus, I miss you fancy face… I miss you every goddamn day. I wish you could come back.” He sobs loudly, gripping the guitar like a life line. “No one told me how hard this would be.” He quickly pushes up his sleeve, stroking over his half of the heart tattoo, just to see it, just to know it’s there…. Even if the other half isn’t.

 

The sun had gone down behind the hills but Theo doesn’t want to go home, not yet. This is the place he feels closest to Liam, where he is most alive. And even if it’s just his imagination, he can feel him there. So, he gets down from the barrier, carrying the guitar to his new blue truck. He jumps in the bed of it and curls up on his side. He doesn’t bother watching the stars—they only remind him of Liam and his blue eyes.

 

He falls asleep with wet eyes and sticky lashes, his nose stuffy and throat hoarse from crying. His body should be used to it after all these years, it should know that he cries himself to sleep most nights until he can’t breathe anymore and his voice becomes something broken. But his body (and his heart) still reacts like it’s the first time, like the pain is fresh. He supposes it is, it will always be.

 

He doesn’t dream for long before he is woken by the softest tap to his shoulder. His mind tells him the cops had come to chase him off but when he creaks open his eyes, he sucks in a deep breath and his body freezes over.

 

“Liam???”

 

“Shhh… Don’t be scared.”

 

“How…”

 

“I can’t stay too long. I’m not supposed to be here.”

 

He will rip his own eyes out if they are deceiving him but Liam is _there_. Right next to him, face to face. He can feel his breath and the warmth of his body, their knees pressed together. Liam smiles, “Hi”

 

“Oh my god… I don’t know what…. Liam.” You’d think he’d have a million of things to say but he doesn’t, he can’t comprehend what is happening, so he settles for the obvious, “You haven’t changed a bit fancy face. Still breath taking.”

 

Liam’s eyes flick over Theo’s slightly aged features as they lay face to face, closer than they have been in years, “You have.” He says reaching out and stroking over the deep lines in the corners of Theo’s eyes.

 

It feels so surreal, so indescribably good that he wants to close is eyes and revel in the touch but he’s afraid to miss a moment of Liam being there. He somehow knows this is a once in a lifetime thing and he better soak up every last detail, every last touch. “I miss you Theo.” Liam says his palm cupping the older boy’s cheek, “But I watch you every day. I’m always here.”

 

“Liam I want you to know that I’m sorry… nothing should ever have been more important than you.” He knows now what he needs to say, “I should have gone back that night, actually, I never should have left.”  He thinks back to the ruined painting and his rage—redder than the paint on his canvas that Liam destroyed… all he had wanted was to be noticed. To be loved.

 

“I know. And it doesn’t matter. Theo, baby, I never hated you and I know you loved me, still now after all these years. I hear all the things you say to me and I can’t reply, but baby I can now. And all you need to know is that I forgive you if that’s what you need. And just like I promised, I will love you until the world burns and then some.”

 

“Thank you. God, I love you fancy face.” He breaths out and he cries, his body trembling. “I want you to be happy baby. I want to see you happy.” Liam says stroking his face as tiny golden embers of light start ascending from him, a warm, white glow surrounds him and Theo knows he will be gone soon.

 

“Liam! Kiss me…. Kiss me please!”

 

And so he does. Liam presses their lips together and the soft touch of his mouth is the last thing Theo feels before Liam is hardly visible anymore.

 

“Don’t ever leave me fancy face!”

 

“ _Never_ ” he whispers and then he’s gone.

 

For the first time in fifteen years Theo smiles like he means it and he knows Liam can see it, and _that_ makes all the difference. His fancy face is with him, always, and maybe just maybe he can take a step toward healing now. Maybe there is life after death, for everyone.

 

**_With shortness of breath, I’ll explain the infinite_ **

**_How rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist._ **

****


End file.
